Overview

Michael Schlinkert is a founding partner of Fulcrum Law Firm. He brings many years of sophisticated transactional experience to the firm, having practiced at several leading law firms and having served at a U.S. federal agency, where he negotiated international transactions and tax agreements on behalf of the agency.

Michael’s practice focuses on corporate and corporate finance transactional matters, including commercial contracts, M&A and strategic transactions, and financing work. In addition to his transactional expertise, Michael also advises clients on estate planning and general business law matters. He works with founders, operators, investors, and lenders on the full life cycle of a business — from formation and financing through growth-stage transactions and exits. His practice blends rigorous legal analysis with a pragmatic, business-minded approach informed by years of advising clients on complex, high-stakes transactions.

Beyond his legal practice, Michael has been an entrepreneur and acquirer in multiple business transactions of his own. That firsthand experience on the client side of the table gives him an unusual, ground-level understanding of the concerns, pressures, and judgment calls faced by entrepreneurs and individuals navigating personally meaningful deals — and informs the way he counsels clients through their own.

At Fulcrum, Michael champions the firm’s thoughtful adoption of cutting-edge legal technology — including AI, deployed ethically and securely — to deliver faster, higher-quality work at costs that reflect a leaner way of practicing law.

Michael lives in Houston with his wife and daughter and is a member of Grace Bible Church. His wife is also an entrepreneur in the professional services industry. In his spare time, Michael is an avid practitioner of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Practice

Michael’s work spans:

• Private company mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures, including sell-side and buy-side representation
• Equity and debt financings, including private placements, venture financings, and senior and subordinated credit facilities
• Independent sponsor transactions, including sponsor-investor alignment, capital formation, and deal execution
• Project finance and development, including energy, infrastructure, and commercial real estate transactions
• Entity formation, governance, and ongoing corporate counsel for closely held businesses
• Commercial contracts and business operations matters

Michael also serves as outside or fractional general counsel for growth-stage and middle-market businesses that need senior legal judgment without a full in-house team.

Representative Experience

Michael’s representative experience includes matters such as:

• Represented multiple individual entrepreneurs in connection with business acquisitions, franchising arrangements, and the development of business legal strategy in “Entrepreneurship-through-Acquisition” and franchising transactions.
• Represented administrative agents and lead arrangers in reserve-based lending facilities to privately held oil and gas exploration and production companies operating in Texas and Rocky Mountain basins, with individual facility sizes ranging from approximately $100 million to $500 million.
• Represented the lead arranger, administrative agent, and technical bank in an approximately $1 billion international financing and hedging facility supporting the development of an offshore oil and gas field.
• Represented a private credit fund and its affiliated lenders in a series of solar project financings — including holdco financings, bridge loans, tax equity financings, and workouts — with aggregate value in excess of $250 million.
• Represented an international development financial institution in multiple emerging-market financings, including tier 2 capital commitments to a multilateral development bank and on-lending facilities to commercial banks in Latin America, with individual commitments ranging from approximately $180 million to $250 million.
• Represented the lead arranger and administrative agent in an approximately $200 million syndicated term loan financing supporting the leveraged buyout of a middle-market consumer products business.
• Represented a lower middle-market private equity firm in its acquisition and related financing of a specialty industrial equipment business.
• Represented parties and lenders in Chapter 11 restructurings and cross-border insolvency proceedings, including matters involving the equitization of multi-billion-dollar funded indebtedness and the negotiation of debtor-in-possession and exit financing facilities.
• Represented multiple individuals in connection with the planning and preparation of their estate documentation, giving clients the tools to shape their future legacy.

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each matter is evaluated on its own merits.

Education

• Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law
  Juris Doctor — Order of the Coif
• The University of Texas at Arlington
  Bachelor of Arts, Psychology

Bar Admissions

• State Bar of Texas

Professional Background

• Founding Partner, Fulcrum Law Firm (2026 – present)
• Corporate and corporate finance transactional practice at leading law firms, including:
  • Sidley Austin LLP
  • Kirkland & Ellis LLP
  • Dorsey & Whitney LLP
• United States International Development Finance Corporation, a federal agency of the United States of America — negotiated international transactions and tax agreements on behalf of the agency
• Entrepreneur and acquirer in multiple business transactions

Professional & Community Involvement

• Member, Houston Bar Association
• Invited speaking guest, ETA Circle — a Houston-based M&A and entrepreneurship community
• Invited speaking guest, Acquiring Minds — a nationally recognized podcast on entrepreneurship and M&A
• Invited speaking guest, M&A Launchpad — a podcast on entrepreneurship and M&A activity
• Member, Grace Bible Church